The first time you heard of a campaign against plastic, I bet you thought it’s one of those disruptive 21st century trends that would die with time. Or you wonder just how your using plastic harms anyone at all. Many people even declare that the decision to or to not use plastic should be a personal one. Well, the good news is that the campaign against plastic is here to stay. The widespread use of plastic endangers our environment and other lives on the planet. Like all other acts of pollution, we need to make smarter decisions if we still want the earth to be a good place for the coming generations. If you have been wondering just why you need to join the plastic-free trend, here are some amazing reasons why

The danger is real

Perhaps one of the reasons why many are yet to key into this trend is because they do not have a good knowledge about just how much harm plastic is doing to us and the environment. If you belong to this category, please take a look at these quick facts

· Plastic materials remain with us for more than 2000 years after disposal

· Plastic greatly increases our water footprint. It takes as much as 6 bottles of water to produce one plastic water bottle.

· More than 60 million plastic bottles are thrown away every day

· If there is no significant change in attitude, the weight of plastic in the ocean would be more than the weight of fish by the year 2050

· About 8 million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean yearly

· Plastic in the ocean could kill up to 1 million sea animals

· More than 90% of Americans that are over 5 years old test positive for BPA, a known carcinogen

It’s not the ultimate act of self-denial

When it comes to being at peace with your environment, you might have observed that most of the decisions you’ll be required to make would mean denying yourself some of the things you love the most. But this isn’t the case when you’re trying to go plastic-free. You can still indulge in most of the things you used to love, you only need to be more conscious. There is hardly anything you do with plastic that’s without an alternative. Although you may find it hard to cope with the alternative initially, you definitely would get used to it if you keep at it.

You’ll feel accountable for your decisions

You never truly realize how much plastic you consume until you make the decision to go plastic free. Think of how many times you’ve had your drink with a plastic straw or you’ve purchased bottled water in favor of the other alternatives. Truth is, these are things we do on a daily basis and that makes us part of the problem. However, once you decide you want to live a plastic-free life, you would weigh your options carefully before making decisions and this brings a superior sense of accountability.

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There’s a knock on effect

Once you make the decision to go plastic-free, you automatically become environmentally conscious. Plastics are not the only ways through which we hurt our environment. Many people who adopted the plastic-free lifestyle testify that the heightened environmental consciousness makes it easier to adopt other means of curbing pollution. This doesn’t mean you would soon be overwhelmed with trying to do everything right, it only means you would be more concerned about the things you are doing wrong. Gradually, you’ll start making smarter decisions and the knock-on effect could even spread to those around you.

The good news

If there is any good news here, it’s that you are not alone in the fight against plastic. Numerous global brands have also joined the bid to have a better ecological footprint. Below are some of the companies and how they are helping

· ASDA is planning to replace 2.4 million drinking straws and eliminate single-use cutlery and cups from all their outlets by 2019.

· McDonald’s plans to stop the use of plastic packaging materials over the next 8 years. They would be replaced by renewable alternatives

· Evian recently introduced a zero-carbon bottling plant and the company plans to produce 100% recycled bottles by 2025

· Tottenham Hotspurs would ban the use of single-use plastics in their new stadium

The challenge of curbing the widespread use of plastic is gargantuan. But it is one we have to face squarely if we are to leave the earth any better than we met it. Many governments and multinationals are already playing a part to ensure the dream is realized but individuals arguably have the most important roles to play here. The question is, what are you waiting for?